disneygirl76
Carey Poppins - Nanny and Disney Enthusiest
Hi All! :wave:
We're back!! We got back Sunday evening and after finding my desk at work and fighting my souvenir cold, I'm finally able to get back to the boards!!!
My DH and I had an amazing time!! Here's the short version - the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly...but mostly amazing trip update! :lol:
We got delayed leaving on the 6th b/c of rain and the thunderstorms were over Orlando! We thought this might be a sign of the week ahead but other then that, no rain! Perfect weather! Smokin' hot by the end of the week but sunny and beautiful!!
My DH played Steve Tyrell (who has redone Disney songs) as we pulled up to the Grand Floridian! The tears started then!! ha ha We checked in and hung around the resort. They have a cool thing where they text you with your room number when it is ready! Very cool! Good job Disney on this one!! :sohappy:
But this is where things get oh so ugly. We got a room in building 5 - looking at the monorail on the 5th floor. We were supposed to be in a similar room on the 4th floor but this one was cleaned first. This is what they told us when we checked in at 11:30 am that morning. I specifically said that I did not care, just a nice room with a nice view. We had lunch at GF Cafe watching the rain - delicious! And no problem just walking right in with no ressie. A good spot if in need of a place to grab a yummy meal with no ressie on a Saturday. We got the text, went to the room and I was less then impressed. The Mickey Bust Lamp was brooken - Mickey had no nose!!! The air wasn't working, only being cooled by the ceiling fan and the sofa bed and a broken arm. No wonder it was ready before the other one.
I called the front desk and asked for them to switch our room and there were no other king bed rooms not on the first floor available. I asked for our other room back and they said that it was no longer available. I asked if the guest had checked in yet and they said no, and i asked to be put back and the CM on the other line was short and frustrated that I was upset with the room. He kept saying nothing else, nothing else. I asked what the room fill rate was and he said 90% so I said that there were rooms left. At this point, I didn't care if there were two beds or not or on what floor. But I was so upset! To say the least...I had a melt down. It was not one of my finer moments. I am not this type - I try to roll with it ... but after months and months of planning and all the money, and to have a room that was broken ... I was so emotional and excited to be there... I had a melt down!! The bell hop had showed up and got on the phone and I have no idea what he said but he verified the state of the room and agreed with me that it should not even be in service. They had some other room options, one in building 6 on the first floor and of the options available, the bell hop said that he was sure that we would be happy there. So he took us and we were happy with the room stayed there. It was far larger then the 5th floor room and the view was nice and private, even for being on the 1st floor. Little did we know that we had been bumped up to concerige level! I was greatful for them making it right but I really didn't care about the conceriege. I just wanted to have a nice room where the Mickey Bust lamp had a nose! :lol: But it was nice to be on the conceirge floor. The coffee in the a.m. was yummy! But over all ... unless you plan on spending that much time at the resort, I would not pay for the upgrade to this level.
We had the Deluxe Dining package so we could have some signature experiences. I wouldn't do the Deluxe dining again b/c it was a lot of meals but the Signature experiences were amazing!
Cali Grill was the fight night. If you have the opportunity to do this one, please do it! It was amazing!!! The service was top notch, meal was one of the best that I had ever had and the view was remarkable! We checked in early to get a drink but rather then getting a drink, they seated us. Which was a bit too early for us b/c we knew we wouldn't make it to the fireworks. But being that we had been up so early to drive there, we didn't mind missing it. The cake from the cake hot line was delivered and it was delicious!!! And so cute! Will post pics when they are all downloaded to the computer. We skipped the fireworks and headed back to the resort. A fun filled week was to come!
We got to MK by 8:15 to trade in Disney Bday voucher for gift card. It was an easy and seamless process. The only thing that I did not realize is that they held you outside the train station until the park opened. I thought we were able to get into the park and walk up and down Main Street. But we help out front and watched the welcome ceremony! Again...if you have never done it - make sure to see it once. Very fun and very magical! Again... the tears! I always cry when I walk onto Main Street but this was extra special and so the tears were really coming! We had no problem with getting on rides and working the fast passes the whole trip. We rode everything we wanted, and sometimes twice. Dinner was at Rose and Crown, always our traditional first meal place. Yummy as ever!!
The only other bad/ugly incident was this day, day 2. I had ordered from the Disney Florist a big in room surprise for my DH. To make a long story short, it had to be done in two parts - that was a decision of the florist, not me. So I did the Grand Welcome package with notes to say Happy Birthday Niles and Happy 5th Anniversary Niles and Carey. The 2nd order was the rice crispie bouquet to say Happy Birthday. Everything was fine and when we got to the room, there were the foot prints from Mickey and the gift on the bed and there was Mickey and oh yeah... Welcome Carey! I was so upset! My DH didn't care and it was the thought that counted but I couldn't believe it! So I called the Florist, and spoke to the concierge, and no one ever called me back the next day. I was able to call back and got the girl who placed the order and she said that she would fix it and couldn't figure out what went wrong. She had the correct info in the system. It was resolved and fixed and all was and no other issues after that.
This leads me to my one some what negative thought/feeling about Disney and what is happening at the World. Like so many of us, the economic times are tough and layoffs are just part of the process. Disney used to staff so that they had enough employees to perfect the magic for us. And I think, like so many of us, you have so much more to do then one person can do in your job and are just so thankful to have one. The Cast Members are still filled with Magic and love for their jobs. But I think that they are just so busy, the perfection is slipping. But the Magic is still alive!!! :lol:
But over all - my DH and I had the the most amazing time!!!!! We had an amazing dinner at the Castle!! Saw Wishes on Main Street!! Took the Keys to the Kingdom tour - a MUST if you never have!! Jason our tour guide was beyond awesomely fabulous!!!! We ate at Boma and Ohana for the first time - delicious!!! :slurp:
Le Cell was amazing, asusual!!! Oh, funny though... you know all the issues we have had with the merging of the two dining systems??? Well, the systems over laped so for two weeks...and while we were there....they were overbooked every night by 200!!! Can you believe it!! We had to wait almost an hour! But we waited...so worth it!!!
We were able to get another ressie at the castle on our last day - a walk up for bfast! And what a way to end the trip!!! :sohappy:
The parks were not terribly busy - except EMH at MK - WOW! Loads of people! And the Monday we were there at AK - crazy ridiculous amounts of people!!
There is so much more! So many magical experiences and stories and that I will share with photos!! My DH and I look at each other each day and say...last week we were here! Last week we were eatting here! We can't wait to get back!!!! No bounce back offer while we were there but we are hoping we'll get a mini trip in at the end of the year. We want to move there now!!! :lol:
Thanks to everyone for all the help planning!!! More trip info to come!!
We're back!! We got back Sunday evening and after finding my desk at work and fighting my souvenir cold, I'm finally able to get back to the boards!!!
My DH and I had an amazing time!! Here's the short version - the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly...but mostly amazing trip update! :lol:
We got delayed leaving on the 6th b/c of rain and the thunderstorms were over Orlando! We thought this might be a sign of the week ahead but other then that, no rain! Perfect weather! Smokin' hot by the end of the week but sunny and beautiful!!
My DH played Steve Tyrell (who has redone Disney songs) as we pulled up to the Grand Floridian! The tears started then!! ha ha We checked in and hung around the resort. They have a cool thing where they text you with your room number when it is ready! Very cool! Good job Disney on this one!! :sohappy:
But this is where things get oh so ugly. We got a room in building 5 - looking at the monorail on the 5th floor. We were supposed to be in a similar room on the 4th floor but this one was cleaned first. This is what they told us when we checked in at 11:30 am that morning. I specifically said that I did not care, just a nice room with a nice view. We had lunch at GF Cafe watching the rain - delicious! And no problem just walking right in with no ressie. A good spot if in need of a place to grab a yummy meal with no ressie on a Saturday. We got the text, went to the room and I was less then impressed. The Mickey Bust Lamp was brooken - Mickey had no nose!!! The air wasn't working, only being cooled by the ceiling fan and the sofa bed and a broken arm. No wonder it was ready before the other one.
I called the front desk and asked for them to switch our room and there were no other king bed rooms not on the first floor available. I asked for our other room back and they said that it was no longer available. I asked if the guest had checked in yet and they said no, and i asked to be put back and the CM on the other line was short and frustrated that I was upset with the room. He kept saying nothing else, nothing else. I asked what the room fill rate was and he said 90% so I said that there were rooms left. At this point, I didn't care if there were two beds or not or on what floor. But I was so upset! To say the least...I had a melt down. It was not one of my finer moments. I am not this type - I try to roll with it ... but after months and months of planning and all the money, and to have a room that was broken ... I was so emotional and excited to be there... I had a melt down!! The bell hop had showed up and got on the phone and I have no idea what he said but he verified the state of the room and agreed with me that it should not even be in service. They had some other room options, one in building 6 on the first floor and of the options available, the bell hop said that he was sure that we would be happy there. So he took us and we were happy with the room stayed there. It was far larger then the 5th floor room and the view was nice and private, even for being on the 1st floor. Little did we know that we had been bumped up to concerige level! I was greatful for them making it right but I really didn't care about the conceriege. I just wanted to have a nice room where the Mickey Bust lamp had a nose! :lol: But it was nice to be on the conceirge floor. The coffee in the a.m. was yummy! But over all ... unless you plan on spending that much time at the resort, I would not pay for the upgrade to this level. We had the Deluxe Dining package so we could have some signature experiences. I wouldn't do the Deluxe dining again b/c it was a lot of meals but the Signature experiences were amazing!
Cali Grill was the fight night. If you have the opportunity to do this one, please do it! It was amazing!!! The service was top notch, meal was one of the best that I had ever had and the view was remarkable! We checked in early to get a drink but rather then getting a drink, they seated us. Which was a bit too early for us b/c we knew we wouldn't make it to the fireworks. But being that we had been up so early to drive there, we didn't mind missing it. The cake from the cake hot line was delivered and it was delicious!!! And so cute! Will post pics when they are all downloaded to the computer. We skipped the fireworks and headed back to the resort. A fun filled week was to come!
We got to MK by 8:15 to trade in Disney Bday voucher for gift card. It was an easy and seamless process. The only thing that I did not realize is that they held you outside the train station until the park opened. I thought we were able to get into the park and walk up and down Main Street. But we help out front and watched the welcome ceremony! Again...if you have never done it - make sure to see it once. Very fun and very magical! Again... the tears! I always cry when I walk onto Main Street but this was extra special and so the tears were really coming! We had no problem with getting on rides and working the fast passes the whole trip. We rode everything we wanted, and sometimes twice. Dinner was at Rose and Crown, always our traditional first meal place. Yummy as ever!!
The only other bad/ugly incident was this day, day 2. I had ordered from the Disney Florist a big in room surprise for my DH. To make a long story short, it had to be done in two parts - that was a decision of the florist, not me. So I did the Grand Welcome package with notes to say Happy Birthday Niles and Happy 5th Anniversary Niles and Carey. The 2nd order was the rice crispie bouquet to say Happy Birthday. Everything was fine and when we got to the room, there were the foot prints from Mickey and the gift on the bed and there was Mickey and oh yeah... Welcome Carey! I was so upset! My DH didn't care and it was the thought that counted but I couldn't believe it! So I called the Florist, and spoke to the concierge, and no one ever called me back the next day. I was able to call back and got the girl who placed the order and she said that she would fix it and couldn't figure out what went wrong. She had the correct info in the system. It was resolved and fixed and all was and no other issues after that.
This leads me to my one some what negative thought/feeling about Disney and what is happening at the World. Like so many of us, the economic times are tough and layoffs are just part of the process. Disney used to staff so that they had enough employees to perfect the magic for us. And I think, like so many of us, you have so much more to do then one person can do in your job and are just so thankful to have one. The Cast Members are still filled with Magic and love for their jobs. But I think that they are just so busy, the perfection is slipping. But the Magic is still alive!!! :lol:
But over all - my DH and I had the the most amazing time!!!!! We had an amazing dinner at the Castle!! Saw Wishes on Main Street!! Took the Keys to the Kingdom tour - a MUST if you never have!! Jason our tour guide was beyond awesomely fabulous!!!! We ate at Boma and Ohana for the first time - delicious!!! :slurp:
Le Cell was amazing, asusual!!! Oh, funny though... you know all the issues we have had with the merging of the two dining systems??? Well, the systems over laped so for two weeks...and while we were there....they were overbooked every night by 200!!! Can you believe it!! We had to wait almost an hour! But we waited...so worth it!!!
We were able to get another ressie at the castle on our last day - a walk up for bfast! And what a way to end the trip!!! :sohappy:
The parks were not terribly busy - except EMH at MK - WOW! Loads of people! And the Monday we were there at AK - crazy ridiculous amounts of people!!
There is so much more! So many magical experiences and stories and that I will share with photos!! My DH and I look at each other each day and say...last week we were here! Last week we were eatting here! We can't wait to get back!!!! No bounce back offer while we were there but we are hoping we'll get a mini trip in at the end of the year. We want to move there now!!! :lol:
Thanks to everyone for all the help planning!!! More trip info to come!!
Can't wait to see pictures of the magic! :wave:
